RuAviation

The government allocated about 300 billion rubles to buy back airplanes of Russian airlines from foreign lessors, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said at an expanded meeting of the State Duma Committee on Transport.

“We are trying to buy aircraft from foreign lessors, we understand this issue very well and the government has already allocated about 300 billion rubles,” said the Minister.

Some of these funds, according to Vitaly Savelyev, have already been used by Aeroflot to buy back 10 long-haul aircraft. In December 2022, it was reported that the airline would buy ten Boeing 777-300ERs. Aeroflot also repurchased 18 planes from foreign lessors: eight Airbus A330 and 10 Boeing 777. All of them were used on the basis of financial leasing, which is not covered by the anti-Russian sanctions. The remaining aircraft in the group’s fleet are used under operating leases.

In total, foreign lessors wanted to seize 595 planes from Russian carriers, the minister said. “We simply would not have been able to fly,” he stressed. Savelyev estimated the total number of planes in the fleet of domestic airlines at 1,297 planes. The Head of Ministry of Transport reminded that some domestic airlines have followed the requirements of foreign airlines and returned the planes, a total of 75 aircraft.

Earlier, on March 10, Angus Kelly, director general of the largest leasing company AerCap said that some Russian carriers and their insurers had applied to the company concerning possible insurance payments for the planes. But it is too early to say whether the transactions will work out. Because of international sanctions, the proposal needs EU and U.S. approval.

AerCap is the world’s largest lessor. It has more than 100 planes left in Russia. Like other leasing companies, AerCap has sued its insurers for the loss of aircraft to the tune of $3.5 billion under the “All Risks” policy or $1.2 billion under the “Military Risks” policy if the larger claim is not satisfied.